FIELD TRIP #1!!

At certain times, points of views can be difficult to understand.  Art is very easily able to trick the mind and what we see.  Many times we can put things into certain categories and classify what we see with an idea.  To one's eye, we can categorize what we see in our own mind with art.  During my trip to Moma and Moma P.s.1  I discovered certain works that left me interested and amused.  Three works I found fell into individual identity, cultural identity and historic identity.

The first art work that lead me to find the artist individual's identity was "The Maybe" by Tilda Swinton.I find myself amused by this work of art for many reasons.  This work of art included the artist herself sleeping or what we think is sleeping inside of a glass container with a mattress.  This is performance art and was done in Rome in 1995 and 2013 in the Moma.  When I see an artist do works that have themselves init I usually tend to find it so strong and moving.  In the outside we see just a woman sleeping, but what's going on in her mind and why is it called "The maybe"?  Individual identity comes into play in this work of art by her mind.  We don't know what she is thinking but she's in front of  us for a reason.  Maybe she is thinking about how she is on a long journey and she can't sleep or maybe she is saying she is just like everyone else no matter how successful she is as a person.  Her identity isn't out there saying by her race but this may be her identity of life.  

Individual Identity

Tilda Swinton
"The Maybe"
Living artist, glass, steel, mattress, pillow, linen, water and spectacles
1995/2013

Cultural Identity




Senga Nengudi
"R.S.V.P.I"
Pantyhose and sand
1977

Cultural identity is always around us.  It can be that Celtic painting of an Irish artist or to the sculptures we find on holiday while visiting the Carribean islands.  Culture is what people usually find to be in people's race, being and homeland.  That is very true but culture is much more than that.  No person from the same country  with the same upbringing are the same.  Culture can be a group you're part of and this artist made it clear what group she is part of.  This work of art shares a culture of a group of feminist.  Feminism deals with woman and their equality.  As soon as I saw this work of art, I knew it had meant something strong.  To the stretching of the material and how it falls in the corner made me wonder what was she trying to say.  Being a feminist and a male made me see what this female artist was trying to say.  She is tired of the equality woman get and how unfair certain people get treated.  This artwork represents a human being taking as much as they can while being treated the way they are.  Something so simple is being said but in the manner they show it is very intriguing.  Nengudi may not show her culture easily in this but after we conclude what she is saying we clearly see who she is and what group she is a part of.  Her culture just isn't her race but her gender, life and idea are.

Historic Identity






Andy Warhol
"Campbell's Soup Cans"
Synthetic polymer paint on thirty-two canvases.
1962

Historic identity is shown in many works of art.  What we usually consider to be historic art is old pieces from our old times.  History is the past, present and future.  Moma is a museum that shows us modern art.  Andy Warhol is a recent artist even though he has passed his work is very modern.  Historic art is much more than wars and what has happened.  It can be what is conveyed and how we feel.  We've all had campbell's soup once in our lives at least once.  With all these flavors warhol has painted we get to experience that time we had the soup.  It beings memories to our mind with our food or it can just be the commercial we see on t.v.  Historic art doesn't have to be dramatic or be from something from a war but it can be abstract art.  Andy Warhol does great at bringing historic art to the table and showing us an emotion and memory.  His art shows more than just objects in our eyes, it conveys a memory from our past and that's our history.  


Individual, cultural and historic identity are present in many works of art.  How the artist makes us see it is up to them but the way we see it is up to us.  we are all individuals and people sometimes can't notice others ideas.  Individual identity is what we can perceive and how we perceive is what I believe.  Cultural identity is many things.  Many groups of people are all part of there own culture.  Historic identity will always be with us forever and it's part of our lives.  All these identities show us how we can see works of art in our eyes.  The art that is shown here shows that there are endless possibilities of showing any kind of identities.